GOP Lawmakers Look to Clamp Down on Obamacare “Bailouts”

And these men are actively fighting to build firewalls between Obamacare and the American taxpayer: Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Senator Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah), Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), and Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.).

All of these lawmakers have sponsored a bill that would keep the outgoing administration from authorizing what they call a “bailout” to insurers.

The measure from four Republican senators would prevent the administration from using an obscure fund to pay legal settlements to insurers that have sued over a shortfall in payments under an ObamaCare program called risk corridors.

The lawmakers are worried that on its way out the door, the administration will seek to shore up the finances of ObamaCare insurers by paying them the legal settlements.

While some feel the incoming administration could possibly repeal Obamacare, all together, that seems unlikely, and this bill is being pushed as a way to keep taxpayers from finding themselves on the hook for payouts, in the meantime.

“We are going to repeal and replace Obamacare but, in the meantime, the last thing Americans need is for the Obama Administration to sneak in one last bailout on its way out the door,” Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) said in a statement.

At issue is ObamaCare’s risk corridor program, which seeks to shift money among insurers to protect them from heavy losses in the early years of the health law. Not enough money came into the program, leaving a hole in insurer finances and contributing to premium hikes and some insurers dropping out of the marketplace altogether. Some insurers then sued for the rest of the money.

The new bill would block the administration from being able to get them at least some money through legal settlements.

As more insurance companies are seeing funds choked off, the coming effect may be a disastrous, unsustainable system that eventually buckles under the weight of its own, poor construction.